The Iridescent Common Grackle

Common grackle.

 I don't think anyone could come up with an uglier name for a more beautiful bird.

These shy and cautious creatures sparkle and shimmer in the sunlight.

True, they are a nuisance.  When they return in the spring I have to put away the sunflower feeders and the suet. Teaming up with the red-winged blackbirds they blast through a suet cake in a day.

The peanut feeder suits them better, makes them work a bit harder for their meal.

They are loud and bossy, and for a few weeks in July and August there is a brain-rattling cacophony while they bring their young to the feeders. But they are people-shy, and it is surprisingly difficult to get photographs of them. The slightest movement sends them scattering.

 

I have been remiss in ignoring this bird. Such a colorful pallete, such a striking gaze, eagle-like.

He works at another peanut...

...then is spooked and gone.